Mr. Monk Is the Best Man - Recap

TK arrives at the station and waits for Stottlemeyer to come out for their date. However, Monk has been adding up the clues and notices that Stottlemeyer has trimmed his mustache, flossed, is rehearsing a speech, and keeps patting a small box in his pocket. He explains that the captain is going to propose to TK. Everyone tries to hide the knowledge but they burst into tears as Stottlemeyer comes out. He quickly realizes that Monk figured things out and told everyone, and starts to go down on his knees to propose. TK tells him not to do it thee, but says she wants to hear what he has to say in private.

Later, a bum is found dead in the park, burned to death. The forensics team confirms that the man was shot first. Stottlemeyer arrives, singing and lightly dancing, and quickly realizes that something strange is going on. He tells Disher to get Monk involved and leaves, still singing and tapping his heels.

Later, Disher has Natalie listen to the song he's going to give to the newlyweds as a gift. She notes that it sounds awfully familiar. Meanwhile, Monk and Stottlemeyer go over the case and Monk assures his friend that it's fine that TK's first name is Trudy. Stottlemeyer asks Monk to be his best man and monk quickly accepts despite his typical paranoia. The captain asks him to hold onto the wedding ring and Monk promises he won't let go of it no matter what. TK comes in and sees the photos of the dead man in the park, and wonders if she can handle it. Stottlemeyer warns her that it's part of his job. TK asks Stottlemeyer to help get her maid of honor, Stephanie Briggs, out of jail because she's being held due to a speeding ticket.

Stottlemeyer and TK get Stephanie released and she says she was speeding to get to the caterers. Monk Stottlemeyer is uncomfortable with the idea of a big wedding and suggests they just have a simple marriage on the beach. However, TK insists that the wedding is for everyone, not just themselves. Stephanie offers to get Stottlemeyer's tuxedo but he says he has it taken care of.

At home, Monk is cooking and cleaning... and holding onto the wedding ring for dear life. He admits to Natalie that he's just as excited as if Stottlemeyer had proposed to him.

Stottlemeyer and TK return to his home for a date and he invites her to stay the night. However, as they go I, they discover that someone has vandalized the house.

Several days later, Natalie and Stephanie are going over the seating arrangements and discussing their romantic lives or lack thereof. TK shows them the dress and Natalie says she has to go to the crime lab to meet with Monk. TK wonders how she tolerates all of the blood and violence, and admits she's not sure if she can do what Natalie does.

At the lab, Monk is busy trying to unmix the mixed flower arrangement. Stottlemeyer finally gets his attention and asks him to check the dead man's shoe. As Monk examines it, he tells the others that they'll be a bachelor party for Stottlemeyer at 6 p.m. He finds a piece of green Styrofoam on the shoe while Stottlemeyer tells them that TK is having second thoughts about marrying a cop. Monk realizes that the Styrofoam is from a florist's display like the mixed arrangement.

TK is waiting outside for Stottlemeyer when she gets a call from someone using a voice scrambler. The person at the other end threatens her and says they may visit later. Stottlemeyer comes out and she tells him what happened, and he figures it's someone playing a prank. When he volunteers to skip the bachelor party, TK tells him to go while she stays at her office with the staff that night. She wonders if the rest of her life will be like this but Stottlemeyer assures her this is the first and last time it will happen.

At the bachelor party, Monk orders pizza without anything (including cheese), and makes sure that everyone has coasters. He then tries telling a joke at Stottlemeyer's expense about all of his failed relationships, and no one finds it funny. Monk reveals he's bought one beer per person, and Stottlemeyer suggests they have a designated drinker so at least one of them can get drunk. They choose Disher and then settle down to watch Monk's choice for a bachelor party stag film: Bachelor Party. Monk is the only one who finds it amusing, at least until they start violating. A drunken Disher staggers in and tells them that someone has set Stottlemeyer's car on fire, and they run out to see that it's been destroyed.

The next day, Stottlemeyer tries to find who is stalking them and warns Disher that TK is freaked out. There are no leads to the car burning and Stottlemeyer has no idea who might be stalking him. However, they get a report on the dead man and learn that he was Charlie Doyle, a florist's clerk. Stottlemeyer tells Disher to take Monk and check it out while he tries to reassure TK.

Monk goes to the florist and talk with the owner, Joy. She doesn't seem to know anything about Charlie other then that he worked there and wore the same boots as the dead man. She paid him off the books and doesn't have a home address. She spends most of her time trying to determine which flower they're best suited to, and chooses a plastic flower for Monk.

Stottlemeyer and the others go to the church for the rehearsal. Monk insists on walking TK's father down the aisle, saying it'd be cool because they're the exact same height. Natalie doesn't think it's a good idea. Disher tells them that they've checked Charlie's fingerprints and learned that they match those of Martin Kettering, an eco-terrorist who has been on the run since he and his group killed two men during a bombing. As they begin the rehearsal, Monk walks Stephanie down the aisle and she wonders if Stottlemeyer is going to go through with the wedding considering everything that has happened. They get to the aisle and Disher performs his steel drum number, but a present explodes. TK runs away in terror before Stottlemeyer can stop her.

Later, TK calls off the wedding and tells Natalie and Stephanie. Stottlemeyer offered to resign but Stephanie realizes that he'd be miserable if he wasn't doing what he does best. Stephanie assures her she's making the right decision but Natalie say she was happy with Mitch despite the fact he was in a dangerous job, and doesn't regret the time that they had together.

At his office, Stottlemeyer is despondent but Monk refuses to give up, insisting that Stephanie is his friend's answer. He admits that's something that Trudy taught him. Stephanie comes in to take the tuxedo back to the rental shop and reassure Stottlemeyer. Once she leaves, Monk realizes that Stephanie bought the wedding flowers from Joy's shop. He also realizes that Stephanie was arrested for speeding the same night that Kettering was killed. He and Stottlemeyer go out to get Stephanie and start questioning her. When she realizes they're on to her, TK pulls a gun out of the tuxedo bag and takes Monk hostage.

As they go to her car, Monk can't help but explain. Here's what happened. Stephanie was part of the eco-terrorist group and they went their separate ways to avoid being caught. She made a successful life for herself where Kettering got stuck in dead-end jobs. When she bought the flowers for TK, Kettering recognized her and tried to blackmail her. She lured him to a park and shot him, and then burned the body to prevent identification. However, as she left the crime scene she was speeding and the police pulled her over. Desperate, Stephanie hid the murder weapon in the tuxedo bag. When she couldn't get Stottlemeyer to let her deliver the tuxedo bag, she had no choice but to break up the wedding so she could return it and get the gun back.

TK arrives to tell her fiancé that she won't abandon him. Stephanie tries to take her hostage but Stottlemeyer informs her that he already unloaded the gun. She fires one shot into the air to prove him wrong and he informs her that it's the only bullet left: the rest were in the clip, which fell out in the bag. Stephanie is arrested and TK assures the captain that they're getting married after all.

Later, the wedding takes place on the beach after all with a small group. Monk manages to release the ring and the happy couple exchange vows. As they finish, TK takes out Stottlemeyer's badge and pins it on his jacket.